Desi vs Imported: Who’s doing it better between Kingfisher & Carlsberg?

Beer is an ingenious formula- affordable, great for moderate drinking and goes exceptionally well with the perennially hot Indian summer.

Over the last decade, acceptability of alcohol has opened the market to new consumers like women and youth who earlier comprised only a small proportion of alcohol consumers in the country. Moreover, relaxation of rules on foreign direct investment in the last decade has opened the floodgates to international players in the sector.

With beer cafes and microbreweries mushrooming with a steady pace around Bangalore, Gurgaon and Pune since 2008, the beer scenario has changed drastically in the country. Rapid urbanization, growing disposable incomes and a large youth population contributes towards making the beer segment the fastest growing alcoholic beverage segment in India by consumption and revenue share.

Interestingly, owing to a ban on direct advertising of alcoholic beverages in India, companies are forced to be more innovative in their approach to engage the consumers, branching out into concepts such as non-alcoholic brand extensions and surrogate advertising.

And one brand that is milking this cash cow well is Kingfisher - from Bangalore’s United Breweries - by consistently representing a 50% to 55% market share in the beer segment. Second to follow is SABMiller, closely tailed by Copenhagen–headquartered Carlsberg.

Between 2009 and 2013, Kingfisher saw its market share slide from 54% to 50.4%, while Carlsberg increased its share from 2% to 7% during this period, according to Euromonitor International.

In conversation with Samar Singh Sheikhawat, Senior VP Marketing, United Breweries Limited and Mahesh Kanchan, Director Marketing, Carlsberg, we survey the experiential roadmap of two of the most dominant players in the Indian beer market- Kingfisher and Carlsberg.

Samar Singh Sheikhawat, Senior VP Marketing, United Breweries Limited

Q-What drives Kingfisher’s experiential philosophy?
A-At Kingfisher, we as a brand look at current trends after distinguishing it from a Fad. A Fad is something which is here today but gone tomorrow however a trend lasts for a while and has a large number of consumers participating. We look at trends and try to dissect it to understand a strong consumer insight coming out of that, for us that insight becomes the basis of our experiential campaigns. We at Kingfisher believe that we are a fun brand and our philosophy is extending the same fun to our consumers via such experiential campaigns

Q-Is there anything particular you keep in mind when conceptualizing an experience?
A- One thing that we really keep in mind while designing an experiential campaign is that the experience activity has to be fun because the product ‘beer’ is a fun product. If we design a serious experiential concept for it then the entire ethos of the product is lost therein. Second thing that we keep in mind is that the campaign should be easy to participate in and it has to be immersive.
It is also of equal importance for us to make sure that the campaign is not be preachy and if there are any technological elements embedded in the activity then they have to be there to enhance the consumer experience and not just for the heck of technology in experiential being the ‘in-thing’.

Q- How important is experiential for Kingfisher?
A- It is really important for us as alcohol brands cannot really do a lot of ATL activities. Also we at Kingfisher take great pride in these experiential innovations as it is through these initiatives that our consumers actually get a chance to play and interact with the brand.

Q-Most of Kingfisher’s customer engagement programs have been very unconventional. What is your logic?
A- It is all embedded in our brands philosophy. The conventional logic of marketing is us telling the consumers what our brand is but for us our brand is what consumers tell each other it is. There is so much hype about how to ensure consumers are loyal to our brands but at Kingfisher our philosophy is to ensure that the brand is loyal to its customers. Our prime aim with the brand is to become a part of the consumer’s conversations. You have to continuously surprise and engage consumers and it is only these unconventional experiences that help you achieve that.

Q- Is there a specific event company that you work closely with?
A- There are multiple agencies and service providers that help us execute our experiential campaigns. DNA, Showhouse, Encompass and Phase1.are some of the agencies we’ve worked with in the past. However the requirement is determined by what the campaign is. We alsohave an internal digital agency that helps us and on top of that we have a great marketing team that helps us in executing all our campaigns.

Q-What does Kingfisher look for in an event agency ?
A-For us it is crucial that the experience quotient is maintained till the last touch point and the last mille. An event agency should not ease off before the finish line as that is Indian mentality. Quality of execution, transparency approach, good attitude are some of things that we love.

Q-So far your experiential initiatives have been limited to the urban metros. Is rural anywhere on the cards?
A- That is an interesting question actually because Kingfisher is indeed a mass brand which is consumed throughout the country, across all regions. Currently we are working closely with a lot of insights from rural regions such as in Bihar. We have learnt that people listen to music in their mobile phones because radio connectivity is so poor and ATL touch points are restricted. In the light of this situation we will definitely expand our experiential footprint in rural very soon.

Mahesh Kanchan, Director Marketing, Carlsberg

Q- What are your expectations from marketing spends this year?
A- Carlsberg India is the fastest growing beer company in India and as a growing company, expectations from all functions are high, with marketing playing a key role. The return on investment behind each marketing spend is critical. To ensure the spends work efficiently and effectively, focus on select markets is our priority. The marketing efforts are focused towards creating awareness and strengthening the brand position by creating avenues for the consumers to have the Carlsberg experience in India.

Q- What are some of the challenges and opportunities you foresee in the near future?
A- The market as well as consumer engagement has seen a significant shift in the last few decade or so. Today, marketers work hard to ensure that a brand remains connected with the consumer. With exposure to different mediums, the consumer has many avenues to get brand exposure, thus, the challenge for any brand to cut through the clutter and establish a strong brand connect and recall exists.

The one thing I believe is critical in the long run is the product and the experience with that itself. Being a challenger in the industry with brands Tuborg& Carlsberg, driving trials for the brand at point of consumption is essential as that is the one thing that finally gives the touch, feel and experience through packaging and product. There is immense opportunity to engage with consumers through ingenuity and out of the box thinking at point of consumption.

Q- Do you see experiential gaining popularity as a medium for marketing and do you see budgets shifting in that direction?
A- Definitely, experiential marketing has seen growing popularity in recent years. In a consumer segment where the larger share is increasingly being occupied by the young adult consumer; it is no more about just delivering a great product. The usual bores them and they seek newer things and experiences. The key word with this highly agile consumer segment is to offer subtle positive experiences to ensure brand recall. This can be most effectively done through experiential.

Experiential is definitely garnering more share in the marketing spends nowadays, however, the roles of each medium is different. They work in tandem and Experiential works differently from the traditional towards creating greater experiential platforms for their consumers. It will only grow.

Q- How are you viewing experiential as a medium given newer kinds of ad formats, creative solutions, and content integration it is allowing?
A- Experiential marketing is definitely in all marketers agenda. While the traditional advertising whether its print, radio or television communicate verbally and visually; experiential engages the consumers beyond just the visual and auditory senses. At the point of consumption, especially on-trade, experiential not only offers to integrate a number of medium and avenues together but offers a greater degree of personal connect. A consumer is more likely to have a greater sense of brand recall and loyalty, once they have experienced a product in a favorable environment. In a progressively growing market such as India, it is imperative to create a personal connect and we continuously engage with our consumers to ensure that. Today, it is not only about traditional modes of conversation but to create avenues for a two way conversation with your consumers.

Q- The year 2015 has the promises of a landmark year in many ways for media as a marketer, what are your expectations from your partners in achieving your objectives?
A- India is an important market for us and we take immense pride in the success our products have seen across the country. Our partners are an essential aspect of our framework. They have been very supportive and on board with the growth strategies adopted by Carlsberg India. We are looking at touch points, especially at the point of consumption for our brands Carlsberg & Tuborg where we can connect with the consumers one-on-one as this is important from our category perspective. It is about micro marketing, instead of one size fits all. And, our partners understanding our need and delivering the desired experience to the consumers is all what we aspire for.

Trivia!
• Beer is globally the third most popular drink, after water and tea, making it the most widely consumed alcohol beverage in the world.
• The world's strongest beer is 'Samuel Adams' Triple Bock with 17% alcohol content.
• India consumes 1.9litres beer per person, while China & USA consume 38.4 litres and 78.3litres respectively.
• Howzatt and Rockman's Beer Island were the 1st two microbreweries in India.
• Moderate consumption of beer is actually good for health.
• Beer is made by fermentation caused by bacteria feeding on the yeast cells. The bacterial excrement is called alcohol.
• A beer lover or enthusiast is called a cerevisaphile.

(The story has been extracted from BW APPLAUSE)